There are seven billion people in the world, and only a quarter of them speak English (and of that quarter, most only kind of, sort of, maybe know the language).

Given how the globe is all globalized these days, then, and that no American can count on being understood while abroad, you'd think foreign language teachers would have it made...but, non. Budget cuts have done a real number on the profession; they've been put in place at both the federal and state levels, and nimble-tongued maestros have gone missing in schools across the country.

Let's look at the math. Americans get that foreign languages are important – class demand and enrollment back around 2010 was at its highest since 1968. Unfortunately, the number of middle schools teaching foreign languages has dropped from seventy-five to fifty-eight percent; and only about fifty-one percent of colleges require foreign language study today, down from more than sixty-seven percent in 1995.

This sucks for teachers personally, but it also sucks for the United States and our national security as a whole. You think Wayne the terrorist is gonna call his contact in Yemen and say in English, "Hey, bro, how's that whole attack plan coming along?" Nuh-uh. Wayne the terrorist is going to speak in some dialect that no one in this country knows. When we can't translate what Wayne is saying, we can't know where and when to nab his butt before he causes trouble.

So, yes, budget cuts are making the professional futures of foreign language teachers look grim indeed. And then there's the technology: Google Translate, Rosetta Stone, Duolingo. People can go online and, for free, start picking up basic Danish. Why learn another language from an actual teacher when you can do it on a computer in the comfort of Mom's basement?

Here's our prediction, then: Foreign language teachers will still be around twenty years from now, but–sadly–there won't be many of them. How do you say, "So long, farewell," in Swahili?

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